Career Bank Robber Sentenced to 15 Years in Federal Prison

U.S. Attorney’s Office
November 26, 2013

Western District of Texas(210) 384-7100

In Waco this afternoon, 42-year-old Michael Harrison Mathews of Cedar Hill, Texas, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for robbing a Hillsboro, Texas bank earlier this year and for being a career criminal announced United States Attorney Robert Pitman and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent In Charge Armando Fernandez, San Antonio Division.

In addition to the prison term, United States District Judge Walter S. Smith ordered that Mathews pay a $1,000 fine and be placed under supervised release for a period of three years after completing his prison term.

On October 13, 2013, Mathews pleaded guilty to one count of bank robbery. By pleading guilty, Mathews admitted that on July 3, 2013, he robbed the Wells Fargo branch in Hillsboro, Texas. Texas Department of Public Safety troopers subsequently arrested Mathews following a 25-mile high-speed chase on Interstate 35. At the time of Mathews' arrest, authorities recovered approximately $730 stolen from the bank. Mathews' criminal history revealed that since 2005, he was responsible for a total of nine bank robberies in the Dallas area, Waco, Austin, and Houston.

This investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sean Condron.